I finally finished building my oneTeslaTS and it worked perfectly on the first try. I built it according to the instructions except for replacing the 78L05 regulator with a low dropout LM2931AZ-5.0G and a 100uF cap across the +5V supply. And, I didn't mount the side panels.

The resistance of my secondary is close to 800 ohms, which seems a lot higher than what others are reporting. This is the resistance I measured across the wires out of the box and again after I brushed on 6 coats of polyurethane while spinning it slowly.

Some sparks were coming off the side of the toroid, opposite from the breakout point. I stuck some tape along the joint where it was sparking and that problem went away.

Wow, it really smells! That's one more item checked off my bucket list